


Delayed

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 02:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6404971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How did Neal get out of New York after Peter gave him the sign?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delayed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).



> this story is to fill sholio ’s prompt at collar corner: Stuck in an airport  
> Prompt/Request: Peter and Neal stranded in an airport together, by bad weather or flight delays or whatever.  
> Characters: Peter, Neal  
> I Would Like: Neal being bored, with everything that entails.  
> I Don't Want: n/a

The moment Peter had given the minute shake of his head on the stairs, Neal ran. He grabbed the first cab he could and called Mozzie.

“ _If you want to talk to me and you know who I am, you also know what number to call next_.”

Neal disconnected the line and called another number.

“Plan D. Make it so.” Neal disconnected the line and stared outside the window. The cab stopped in front of June´s place. Neal ran inside, grabbed his go bag and left again. Luckily June wasn´t home so he didn´t get into an awkward position. This way, it was easier.

By the time he came out of the back door, Mozzie´s cab was standing in front of it and Neal got in. Without saying anything Mozzie pulled into traffic and drove to the airport. Mozzie pulled out two tickets and gave one to Neal. They still hadn´t said anything. Neal accepted the ticket and made his way alone into the airport, Mozzie would probably make sure the cab was safe.

It wasn´t a busy day so checking-in was a matter of minutes, especially since he only had carry-on luggage. Neal forced himself to stay calm once he walked up to the custom counter.

If Kramer had put a BOLO out on him,… no, he wasn´t expected at the commutation hearing for, he checked his watch, another teen minutes, so nobody would suspect him to run now.

He placed his passport on the counter. The homeland security officer studied his face and his passport and Neal just gave him a bored look. After a last glance, the officer handed him back his passport.

“Have a nice trip mister Helsen.”

“Thank you.”

He then cued for the security check. How many people could wait to be frisked and searched? The line seemed endless. When it was his turn he took off his shoes, rolling his eyes, where was the class of travelling if you needed to take of your shoes? The woman behind him gave a sort of giggle when he looked at her with a mock desperate face. He placed his personal belongings into the plastic box and walked through the body scanner.

After the security check, he picked up all of his belongings and walked towards the gate. He still had an hour to get through. He passed a Starbucks where he thought of buying an espresso, but eventually changing his mind and ordering a latte macchiato, he was tense enough as it was.

Finally he sat down two gates from the one he would board the plane, just in case. He studied people for a while, but it was boring, mostly tourists and some business people, nobody interesting. It would be a bit more interesting to see what they were carrying, but he knew he didn´t need any attention. Mozzie had made sure they had a getaway plan and he couldn’t jeopardize that.

The woman who sat across from him was giving him looks, so he started flirting a bit with just his eyes and smile until he realized the man next to her was doing the same. OK, Neal admitted, that was unexpected, so he got up and walked to the news stand and bought himself a newspaper and book on coding and mathematics. Mozzie would like it. He then walked back to the seats and sat down again and started reading the newspaper. God, he had forgotten how boring traveling was, having spent most the last years confined to his radius of two miles.

 

_“Now boarding First Class on KLM flight 116 to Manchester Airport.”_

 

Neal sighed, finally… He slowly got up and gathered his belongings and walked up to the gate to board. He addressed the stewardess who was standing at the last check before the gangway and told her there had to be a mistake, as his co-worker had a first class ticket and he a second class. She checked the computer and confirmed that there was a seat available next to 5B. She studied him and he gave her his best innocent smile. He could see a blush creeping in her cheeks and her pupils dilating. There weren´t many first class passengers for this flight so she told him he could take seat 5A. He thanked her and followed the other people inside and was shown to his seat by the window by a blond purser with a big smile. He sat down and stared outside. This was it, he had said goodbye to his life in New York. He always knew this was a possibility, but it was one he didn´t want to use.

But like they said, no use crying over spilled milk, he had built a life before, he could do it again.

And at that moment a little hula doll was placed next to him and Mozzie looked down on him with a sad smile. They hadn´t said anything to each other since Neal had made the call.

 

* *  *

 

The flight had been boring and uneventful and Neal had spent most of the time sleeping, the adrenaline rush from running, fading.

And on a raining afternoon Mister Bob Pagana and Mister Frank Helsen entered the United Kingdom for a connecting flight to Berlin.

They were waiting for the flight when the announcement came that due to a storm, the flight had been delayed. So they waited, James was bored out of his mind so Bob suggested that they would get some dinner. They had some god awful English airport dinner with fish and chips and stale beer and waited some more, Neal had bought an English and French newspaper and was just finishing them, when finally the announcement came that their flight was cancelled.

In record time Bob had them re-booked to a connecting flight to Porto. They couldn´t afford to stay to long in one place, especially the UK, with their tight security. The flight to Portugal wasn´t that long and they arrived late at night. Bob had also arranged hotel rooms and they took a cab into the city. By now, Kramer would have realized Neal had cut and run. When he looked worried, Bob assured him that their aliases would withstand FBI scrutiny and they would be OK. A minor setback, but everything would be OK.

When they arrived at the hotel, Frank smiled, trust Bob to book them in a luxury hotel. They got to their room, Bob started the Jacuzzi for Neal and told him to relax, while he studied the wine list. Their new ID´s were lying on the bed, Mister Barry Satoro and James Maine.

While James lowered himself in the bathtub, he sighed in relief. Sitting in a chair for this long had made his muscles stiff. Here they were, stranded in Porto, but there were worse places and worse people to be stranded with. Barry was a true friend and James trusted him. Tomorrow they would continue their journey.


End file.
